The Federal Government publishes the spending and revenue numbers on a monthly basis. The charts and tables below give an in-depth review of the Federal Budget, showing where the money is coming from, where it is going, and the surplus or deficit.This month saw a $347B deficit, the largest monthly deficit since March of 2023. 
Figure: 1 Monthly Federal BudgetThis was also the second largest May ever, only behind May 2020 during the very depths of the pandemic. 
Figure: 2 Historical Deficit/Surplus for MayOn average, May experiences a deficit of -$127B which makes this year almost 3x larger than typical May deficits! 
Figure: 3 Current vs HistoricalThe two Sankey diagrams below show the distribution of spending and revenue for the month and the trailing twelve months. 
Figure: 4 Monthly Federal Budget Sankey 
Figure: 5 TTM Federal Budget SankeyThe next two charts show the monthly revenue and costs broken down by expense type. 
Figure: 6 Monthly ReceiptsThe chart below shows how Medicare was a big driver of the larger deficit this year. 
Figure: 7 Monthly OutlaysInterest Expense has ballooned higher to $836B. 
Figure: 8 TTM Interest ExpenseThe table below goes deeper into the numbers of each category. 
Figure: 9 US Budget Detail
Historical Perspective
Zooming out and looking over the history of the budget back to 1980 shows a complete picture. The change since COVID-19 is quite dramatic. 
Figure: 10 Trailing 12 Months (TTM)The next two charts zoom in on the recent periods to show the change when compared to pre-Covid. These charts show spending and revenue on a trailing 12-month basis period over period. 
Figure: 11 Annual Federal Receipts 
Figure: 12 Annual Federal ExpensesData Source: Monthly Treasury StatementData Updated: Monthly on eighth business dayLast Updated: Period ending May 2024US Debt interactive charts and graphs can always be found on the Exploring Finance dashboard: https://exploringfinance.shinyapps.io/USDebt/More By This Author:Chinese Central Bank Halts Gold AcquisitionsJobs: You Need To Look At The Household Survey A Second Chance For Silver
